Extra, extras

X is for XE currency converter and some eXtras

A-Z Challenge – Apps in April

XE currency converter

Essential for travellers this currency rate converter stores the last known rates so is useful even when internet access is not available.

Put your home currency at the top and then add the currencies of the countries you will be travelling through below. Provides quick and easy conversions.
Available for iOS and Android.

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eXtras

Is your device memory getting full? Try some of these tips.

Delete apps not used in the last year. If you have previously purchased them, they will be kept in the store on your account and can always be restored again if needed. Remember to transfer any documents or files from these apps to your computer before you delete.

Move photos off your device. Use a Wi-Fi transfer app such as Simple Transfer Pro for iOS or Wi-Fi File Transfer for Android to drag and drop from your device to your computer.

Do you have apps that are space hoggers? Some of the Twitter clients and Google+ can store outdated data no longer needed. Simply delete the app then re-install to free up some space.

Next up Y - Yes for your interests

This post first appeared on http://librarycurrants.blogspot.com/2016/04/extra-extras.html

Words of wonder

W is for Word Swag and WolframAlpha

A-Z Challenge – Apps in April

Word Swag

An early favourite that has been on my iPad since its launch. Word Swag is a typography and graphic design tool. Choose from own pictures or the thousands of free background pictures from Pixabay. There are textures and a wide range of text designs and filters. Each text design has at least 5 alternate options to provide a wide range of choices. “Turns words into designer text”

Recent additions include gold foil text and expansion to 48 designer styles.

Word Swag is available for both iOS and Android and is the last image and text app listed in the A-Z challenge.

WolframAlpha

If you have not heard of WolframAlpha visit the website to view the power of this computational knowledge engine. Wolfram Alpha presents answers not links to websites. Dates and times, words and linguistics, engineering, places and geography, advanced mathematical computations, musical notation, food and nutrition are just a few of the areas to explore.

Want to know an age at death? Enter birthdate to death date e.g 15 April 1909 to 29 September 2003. Want to know a code, a comparison of sizes or places or populations, this app will entertain and inform you accurately drawing from the knowledge stored in thousands of databases.

This app and all the more specialised apps from WolframAlpha are listed on the products page.

Next up X – eXtra, extras!

This post first appeared on http://librarycurrants.blogspot.com/2016/04/words-of-wonder_27.html

Vocal variations

V is for Voice in a variety of apps

A-Z Challenge – Apps in April

Speech recognition

Devices and apps with built-in speech recognition software enable transcription of voice to text. This is often an underused function available in a wide range of apps. Speech recognition software works best when words are enunciated clearly. If at first one’s voice is not recognised, slow down speech and practise using speech recognition in a quiet environment.

On iOS anytime the keyboard is activated look for the microphone symbol, located next to the Space bar. Tap the microphone to begin speaking and watch your words transformed into text.
On Android the microphone symbol is located at the top of the keyboard. This is a boon for those who have difficulty using keyboards accurately or need to quickly take a note on a phone.

Speech recognition is available in browsers like Safari and Chrome, calendars, email and note apps. Some apps covered in this A-Z series that have speech recognition are: Adobe Slate, Chrome, Google Docs, Gmail, Google maps, Google Keep and Notegraphy. Depending on your device and the latest software update of your system and your apps, look for the microphone and test to see if your favourite app can use speech recognition.

Voice recording

Voice recording is a quick way to capture thoughts, music, sounds and interviews. Apps with voice recording incorporate a playback mode. Some apps covered in this A-Z series that incorporate voice recording software are: Adobe Voice, Book Creator, Evernote, Explain Everything, and Hangouts.

A dedicated voice recorder app is useful and both the App store and Google play have a wide range of choices. On my iPad I currently have AudioNote and on my Android phone, SmartVoice. Now that Evernote incorporates voice recordings I am more likely to use that for spoken memos and one of the voice recording apps for longer interviews for family history purposes.

Text to spoken word

Many mobile devices incorporate the option for having text on screen read aloud.

On Android head to Settings> Accessibility>TalkBack and switch to On. Follow the onscreen instructions. If you wish to change the speed of the text read, go to Settings> Language and input> Text-to-speech output.
On iOS go to Settings> General> Accessibility to switch on VoiceOver.

Have you been making the most of the voice capabilities of your mobile device?

Next up W - Words of wonder

This post first appeared on http://librarycurrants.blogspot.com/2016/04/vocal-variations.html